Why one CEO won't hire you if you don't have a hobby

Employees are more
productive when they have a hobby they invest time in outside of
work.Reuters/Blair
Gable

Bonnie Crater, CEO of Full Circle Insights, had
been working in the famously competitive Silicon Valley for 25
years before noticing the effect her long days and stressful job
were having on her health.

While watching herself in a video presentation at the
annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, she says she
"didn't even recognize
myself."

"I looked like Tiny Tim and
thought, 'What has happened to me?' I looked so
terrible."

That was a wake-up call for Crater, who says it inspired
her to make significant changes to her life and start
her own company in 2010.

She now highly values work-life balance and requires one
important thing of each of her
employees: "They
all must have a hobby they invest time in," she says.

Crater believes having a hobby on the side that you enjoy
is essential for staying happy and productive, and she wanted her
company to be known for that.

"I wanted to create a company
with a different culture to prove that you can start a company
that runs well and also encourages a healthy work-life balance,"
she says.

So for each position, she screens candidates with the
question, "What hobby is important to you?"

If a candidate says, "I don't have one," they don't get
hired.

So far, all job candidates have had an answer, with about half
naming a physical activity, like rock climbing or ballroom
dancing — and others naming a community outreach program, like
helping on alumni association or volunteering, which is
especially popular since employees get 24 hours of paid volunteer
work per year. "That means 1% of their work hours per year is
spent on volunteering, which is important," she says.

The requirement holds true for the CEO, too. Crater says she
loves to play tennis because she enjoys the competition. She also
spends her free time working on the Bay Area Lyme foundation, which
she started with friends in 2010 and is now the largest private
funder of Lyme disease research in the United States.

She says having these outlets to go to after work is not only a
healthy way to relax, but it also makes employees more engaged at
work. "I've learned that we are all much better and more
productive at our jobs when we have a release outside of work,"
she concludes.